The first known letter from Joséphine JOSÉPHINE (Marie-Joseph-Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie, future Empress). Autograph letter signed "Lapagerie de Beauharnois". [Paris], "this 10 January" [1782]. 2/3 p. in-16 square. "The Comte de Beauharnais has just left my house, my dear brother, and has informed me of the small annoyances you may experience in relation to the extreme complaisance you are showing him by allowing him to accompany Melle your daughter to the Triple Lumière lodge; I have strongly urged him not to abuse your kindness, and I have promised to release him to you. I hope that Mr de Vésien will have fulfilled the commission he wished to take on for you and your kind family. I flatter myself that nothing can deprive us of the pleasure of spending the evening together on Sunday; the appointment is at six o'clock. Please be assured, my dear brother, that I shall look forward to this moment with great impatience; a thousand kind regards to Miss de Lachevallerie...". The future empress's Masonic relations. Initiated into the Adoption Lodge L'Impériale des Francs Chevaliers and later Grand Mistress of the Adoption Lodges, Joséphine had many Freemasons in her close circle: her husband Alexandre de Beauharnais, his first cousin Count Claude de Beauharnais (mentioned here), her son Prince Eugène, and West Indian relations such as the Marquis Michel-Dominique de Vézien (1752-1830) and Jean-Jacques Bacon de La Chevalerie. Not to mention most of the Bonapartes (including Joseph, who was Grand Master of the Grand Orient) and the greatest Marshals and dignitaries of the Empire. One of the founders of the Grand Orient de France, Jean-Jacques Bacon de La Chevalerie (1731-1821) was a former brigadier in the King's armies, a veteran of the Seven Years' War who had also served for a time in Saint-Domingue. Deeply involved in the Masonic movement, he belonged to several lodges, including Les Neuf Sœurs. After serving as Grand Orator, he became the Grand Master's private representative. His troubled role in Saint-Domingue during the Revolution and his monarchist convictions under the Empire reduced his influence to nothing. Joséphine did, however, send her daughter, who became Madame Bacon de Bonnoy, to boarding school. Impératrice Joséphine, Correspondance, Paris, Payot, 1996, no. 1.